Chaos and confusion reign as Harry loses media battle

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: Chaos and confusion reign as Harry loses media battleImage source, ReutersImage caption, Prince Harry played wheelchair rugby at an event promoting his Invictus GamesBySean Coughlan Royal correspondentPublished4 hours agoPrince Harry's visit this week was meant to be the dramatic moment when his wife Meghan appeared before the UK public for the first time in almost four years. That would focus the world's attention on his passion project, the Invictus Games, which would be promoted in London and Birmingham with a series of media-friendly events. Instead it turned into a series of unfortunate events - with crisis comms appearing to be hit by its own crisis - leaving behind a vapour trail of confusion.

Meghan made no public appearances during the week and Prince Harry's good causes were overshadowed, with nightmare timing, by defeat in court against Associated Newspapers. Image source, ReutersImage caption, Meghan did not attend any of the public events during Prince Harry's visitThere was a private family reunion between the King and Queen and Prince Harry, Meghan and their children, Archie and Lilibet, on Friday. But there were no pictures from this secretive get-together and the private moment at Highgrove hasn't really shifted the narrative on what proved a difficult week for the visitors from California.

The Details

Team Sussex might already have expected a tough press for their trip to the UK and their supporters feel that the media's treatment of Harry and Meghan is the biggest stitch-up since the Bayeux Tapestry. But even before Harry's visit had begun there was chaos. A war of words, with acrimonious rival briefings, had taken place between Prince Harry's team and Buckingham Palace over where he would be staying during his visit.

It emerged he had already been told he wasn't staying there and Buckingham Palace, the establishment that Harry challenges, ended up looking more convincing. But even worse followed, with such coincidentally bad timing that it would have suited a disaster movie. At the very start of the first engagement about the Invictus Games, as Prince Harry had taken to the podium, word spread that he had lost all his claims against the publishers of the Daily Mail.

It was a much bigger defeat than many had anticipated, with the news buzzing around phones in the room as he began his speech. Plans for an on-camera statement from Prince Harry that afternoon were hastily ditched. Press would no longer be able to go inside an event planned for the following day.

Harry - famously nicknamed Harold by his brother William - was having a bad week. Two of the Invictus events had already been completely overshadowed, taking away attention from his work supporting injured military veterans. And while Team Sussex stumbled, the Prince of Wales was enjoying a trouble-free visit to Hastings, a place famous for a battle where William defeated Harold.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.